Stephen Nedoroscik Battles Rare Eye Diseases and Talks Playing Baseball and Basketball as a Child: ‘Just Got Through It’

Stephen Nedoroscik has never allowed his eye condition to be a limitation. Plus, he never had to give up his passion for gymnastics because of it, and that’s the best part. Even today, whether it’s dancing or other activities outside his comfort zone, he rarely gives in – I can’t do that. In fact, he has adopted this attitude since he was a little boy who simply loved playing different sports.

On the Lightweights Podcast with Joe Vulpis, 25-year-old gymnast Stephen Nedoroscik answered a fan question about his eye condition, how it affects him, and how he managed to overcome it. He explained, “Yeah, so my eye condition is generally just poor vision.” Stephen Nedoroscik battles two rare eye diseases – coloboma and strabismus – and admits he has no depth perception and is hypersensitive to light.

However, Dancing With The Stars Season 33 contestant Stephen Nedoroscik never lets these illnesses get in the way of his lifestyle. He says, “I never let them [eye conditions] What I do really impacts my life, especially in gymnastics. You know, it’s a lot easier to deal with these things.” In fact, the American gymnast knows that had he pursued a sport other than gymnastics, it would have been a huge challenge to navigate the sport.

Stephen Nedoroscik argues that sports like baseball and basketball require depth perception, or things that are external. But nothing was ever impossible. He remembers how he managed to play them as a child: “But you know, even growing up playing these games, it felt like I just got through it.” It remains doubtful whether he would have achieved it as a professional athlete. However, we know that Stephen Nedoroscik’s vision problems never limited the types of games he played as a child.

And now Clark Kent from Team USA is mastering the pommel horse exercises despite squinting or blurry vision. He overcomes everything with the attitude of never giving up.

Stephen Nedoroscik was lucky in gymnastics?

Stephen Nedoroscik is often seen as someone dozing just before the event, in fact he is mentally practicing his moves and calming his mind. After that it depends on the feeling. “When I get on the pommel horse, it’s all about feeling the equipment; “I don’t even see it properly when I’m doing gymnastics.” he told Today. Even on the lightweight podcast he says that gymnastics comes naturally to him.

But that doesn’t mean Stephen Nedoroscik doesn’t strive hard to be good at everything he does. He also says: “Anything that might have been influenced by my vision, I was able to kind of put aside because of the great fun that I had.” Well, every time he actually has fun, it feels like his eye problems no longer exist. He’s just so good at it!

Say, dance. When he joined Dancing With The Stars in 2024, he was admittedly nervous. Because he was used to working most with his “upper body,” he was skeptical that his legs were up to the required capabilities. Everything was brand new to him and he was afraid of messing it up. But if you look at his results, you will know that his abilities symbolize water taking the perfect shape of a container – give him everything and he would excel.

Stephen’s DWTS scores also show a consistent increase, from 21 to 22 to 30 and then to 32. Do you think he is still affected by his eye condition? Or no? Share your thoughts with us!